Since the 1970's, water deficits has become of of the main global issues. The water crisis pertains to the fact that in certain locations water is becoming scarce due to a variety of reasons -
Demand
Climate
Irrigation
Industry
Pollution
Sanitation
World wide 4,000 children a day die from dirty water
In 4000 BC Lake Chad was believed to have covered an area of 400,000 square kilometers. When Lake Chad was first surveyed by European Explorers in 1823, it was said to have been one of the largest lakes in the world. Today, Lake Chad covers only 1,350 square kilometers, a staggering difference that illustrates our worlds shirking water supplies.
Further more, the Aral Sea, located in Central Asia, has dried up a great deal due to pollution caused by weapon testing and industrial projects. The Aral Sea is also used as a fertilizer runoff. By 1960, more then 50 percent of the the Aral Sea was being diverted inland into irrigation systems, assisting with mass cotton production. As a result of such projects and testing, today the water level in the Aral Sea is dropping at an average of 80 to 90 centimeters per year.
Aquifers, underground beds or layers of earth, gravel, or porous stones that yield water, have been overly used and polluted over the passed hundreds of years. According to High Noon, by Jean-Francois Rischard, pollution from nineteenth-century textile mills in Massachusetts is just now, after more than 200 years placid, showing up in artesian wells in Long Island. In addition, due to the increasing pollution of aquifers, the number of river basins shared by countries has gone up from around 210 to 260 in the passed twenty years.
The demand for water has increased so much that the natural water cycle can no longer keep up. Less than 2% of the earth's water is fresh water and between 1990 and 1995 the global consumption of fresh water rose six fold. Although underdeveloped countries are the ones usually being portrayed with unsanitary water or inabilities to access water at all, developed countries are suffering from this same problem as well. Many countries are taking action in order to increase their access to fresh water, for example the building of dams has amounted to 38,000 after having increased from a mere 5,000 in 1950.
What is the current situation?
It is estimated that within the next 25 years, half of the world's population might have trouble finding enough freshwater for drinking as well as irrigation. Across the globe over 80 countries are suffering serious water shortages and as the population continues to increase, so does the number of countries and its people suffering from this global crisis.
Lake Chad 1973, 1987, 1997, and 2001
Aral Sea, Central Asia in 1973, 1987 and 2000
Shrinking of the Aral Sea
Risks of Water Shortages World Wide: Notice the intensified color range in numberous third world countries.
HISTORY
Since the 1970's, water deficits has become of of the main global issues. The water crisis pertains to the fact that in certain locations water is becoming scarce due to a variety of reasons -
In 4000 BC Lake Chad was believed to have covered an area of 400,000 square kilometers. When Lake Chad was first surveyed by European Explorers in 1823, it was said to have been one of the largest lakes in the world. Today, Lake Chad covers only 1,350 square kilometers, a staggering difference that illustrates our worlds shirking water supplies.
Further more, the Aral Sea, located in Central Asia, has dried up a great deal due to pollution caused by weapon testing and industrial projects. The Aral Sea is also used as a fertilizer runoff. By 1960, more then 50 percent of the the Aral Sea was being diverted inland into irrigation systems, assisting with mass cotton production. As a result of such projects and testing, today the water level in the Aral Sea is dropping at an average of 80 to 90 centimeters per year.
Aquifers, underground beds or layers of earth, gravel, or porous stones that yield water, have been overly used and polluted over the passed hundreds of years. According to High Noon, by Jean-Francois Rischard, pollution from nineteenth-century textile mills in Massachusetts is just now, after more than 200 years placid, showing up in artesian wells in Long Island. In addition, due to the increasing pollution of aquifers, the number of river basins shared by countries has gone up from around 210 to 260 in the passed twenty years.
The demand for water has increased so much that the natural water cycle can no longer keep up. Less than 2% of the earth's water is fresh water and between 1990 and 1995 the global consumption of fresh water rose six fold. Although underdeveloped countries are the ones usually being portrayed with unsanitary water or inabilities to access water at all, developed countries are suffering from this same problem as well. Many countries are taking action in order to increase their access to fresh water, for example the building of dams has amounted to 38,000 after having increased from a mere 5,000 in 1950.
What is the current situation?
It is estimated that within the next 25 years, half of the world's population might have trouble finding enough freshwater for drinking as well as irrigation. Across the globe over 80 countries are suffering serious water shortages and as the population continues to increase, so does the number of countries and its people suffering from this global crisis.
Lake Chad 1973, 1987, 1997, and 2001
Shrinking of the Aral Sea